


Five Things Rin Never Did (With Makoto)

by teletou



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-15
Updated: 2013-08-15
Packaged: 2017-12-23 19:25:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/930193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teletou/pseuds/teletou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This time, Rin looks, and everything just stops.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Things Rin Never Did (With Makoto)

_1\. Have a Sleepover_

You’d think sleeping in Haru’s wide,  _spacious_  room with three other kids would’ve gone on without a hitch. You’d think you’d have at least a  _few centimetres of personal space._

"Makoto, please wake up."

Shoved against a wall on the far side of the room, Rin finds himself having an armful of limbs curling around his body. Somehow during the night, Makoto had rolled over and pushed himself flush against Rin’s side. How did that even happen, Rin couldn’t even begin to think. Didn’t they sleep on opposite sides?  _Wasn’t Nagisa between them?_

"Makoto." He doesn’t even bother to sound annoyed this time.

Not that he was in the first place.

Sighing in defeat, Rin shifts, moving to sleep on his side as he tucks Makoto’s head under his chin. Might as well make himself comfortable. 

 

_2\. Study Together_

"This doesn’t look right," Makoto sighs, pouting as he looks over his work.

"Can I have a look? Do you want me to help?" Rin sidles closer, their shoulders, arms, thighs pressed against each other. He stops himself from thinking about it too much. Skin contact is normal, right? He definitely needs to be close to check over his homework, right? If he ignores it, it’s like the warm, tingling feeling isn’t even there.

"Here," He points down to a word Makoto wrote. "It’s supposed to be  _'friend'_ , I before E.”

"I see! Thank you! You’re really good at English, Rin!" His smile shouldn’t have bothered him as much as it does, but Rin scrambles back, sputtering as he looks away.

“‘I before E, except after C’. Just remember that,” he mutters. 

When asked, Rin just says the red on his cheeks is because of the heat. 

 

_3\. Enter a Haunted House_

The sign — which Rin finds as impressive, really, considering a team of third graders made it — draws out a whimper from Makoto. He probably should start expecting the worst (Makoto running himself scared into a wall, cheeky underclassmen getting a kick out of scaring Makoto and decides to scare him _even more_ , Makoto fainting, the list goes on, honestly) and consider just taking the other boy to a chocobanana stand, but a part of him wishes that maybe, maybe, Makoto would cling to him during the whole thing.

"It’s okay," Rin says, clapping Makoto on the shoulder. "You can hold my hand if you’re scared."

 

_4\. Watch Fireworks_

"I think I might like you," Rin whispers.

He might’ve not heard, not when Rin quite couldn’t hear it himself. It doesn’t matter. Not when Makoto’s green yukata enters his line of sight — a faded blur of green and white in the corner of his eyes. Rin doesn’t turn, his eyes never leaving the kaleidoscopic burst of lights over the dark sky. He imagines how Makoto would look right now; doesn’t quite trust to see it on his own. Soft orange glows from the stall outlining the tips of his hair, interchanging colours accentuating the contours of his face as his lips part — a small, quiet gasp of awe leaving in one, short breath — and Rin falls harder, harder, deeper.

"It’s really pretty, huh?" Makoto says.

This time, Rin  _looks_ , and everything just  _stops._

"Yeah, it is." 

 

_5\. Exchange Letters_

He never throws them out. He keeps every single one of them.

Rin gingerly traces the folded paper with his fingertips, smiling fondly. It’s just like Makoto to try and keep in contact. He thought that he settled everything already, leaving just after the race. He said his goodbyes, leaving his friends with a memory of their victory. He thought that everything was said and done, that he could cut ties.

Of course,  _of course_  the universe is somehow conspiring against him and is trying to prove him wrong.

The first letter came with Gou’s letter, an extra paper that fell from inside the envelope. It’s all nonsense, really. Absent rambles about how everyone’s doing, how Makoto’s hoping he’d come home to visit one day, how Makoto’s excited to start exchanging letters and that it’s his first time sending things overseas. It’s so very  _Makoto_ , and Rin doesn’t know how to feel. He thought that he’d be over this when he boarded the plane, but apparently some divine force is betting against him. 

He never replies.

Makoto never stops sending him letters.


End file.
